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Monday, February 6, 2012

How fit are you and would you consider completing “10 km in 94
minutes” would be considered a great achievement ? - Never jump to any conclusion before you have
full facts. You have to perforce to know
the age at least ? His biography is titled
"Turbaned Tornado", which was formally released in the Attlee Room of
Britain's House of Lords on July 7, 2011 by Lord Anthony Young of Norwood Green
and retired British Supreme Court judge Sir Mota Singh. The 114-page book,
penned by journalist and writer Khushwant Singh, traces the runner's roots and
tries to capture his life's journey, understanding the impact of Fauja on the
world around him.

There
are Marathons and Half-marathons ! As you would know, a half marathon is a road running event of
21.0975 kilometres (13.1094 mi). The
Eritrean long distance runner Zersenay
Tadese currently holds the men's half
marathon world record. His bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens. He currently holds the World Record having
the run the distance in 58:23 secs. The
women’s record is much lower at 65:50 held by Mary Jepkosgei Keitany of Kenya.

Keitanya of Kenya

In 2004, he was 92 and age did not deter the marathon runner Fauja Singh from signing a deal with Adidas for a major advertising campaign 'Impossible is Nothing'. On Sunday, 5th Feb 2012, he lived up to the adage by completing the 10 km in 94 minutes in Hong Kong Marathon.

After charming scores of fans with his amazing
feats, centenarian British-Indian athlete Fauja Singh, surprised Hong Kongers,
completing a 10-km run. “The weather was very pleasant, I enjoyed the race very
much,” Singh, popularly known as the “Turbaned Torpedo,” was quoted as saying after crossing the finishing line in one hour
and 34 minutes. He attributed his fitness to a healthy lifestyle totally
insulated from cigarette and alcohol, raised 2,00,000 Hong
Kong dollars (USD 25,800) for acharity through the event.

Ironically, even as Singh achieved the feat, a 26-year-old male
runner fainted after completing the race and was declared “brought dead” in
hospital.

Fauja
Singh was born on April 1, 1911. Singh
has participated in various international events including the 2003 London
Marathon, where he recorded his current personal best time of 6 hours and 2
minutes. He is claimed as saying that he
wont stop running until his death and at a time when people would even struggle
to walk, he is running ! He has been
running and at the age of 100 (and a half), Singh attempted and accomplished
eight world age group records in one day, at the special Ontario Masters
Association Fauja Singh Invitational Meet, held at Birchmount Stadium in
Toronto, Ontario Canada. Timed by officials in Canada. Three days later, on October 16, 2011, Singh
became the first 100 year old to complete a marathon, running the Toronto
Waterfront Marathon in 8:11:06. In
October 2011, Singh, a vegetarian, also became the oldest man to be featured in
a PETA campaign.

Singh
claims to be the world's oldest marathoner
but has been denied entry into the Guinness World Records as he failed to
produce his birth certificate. He was
able to produce a passport listing his date of birth as April 1, 1911, and a
letter from Queen Elizabeth II congratulating him on his 100th birthday. Guinness World Records reportedly stated "Although we appreciate the great running
achievement of Mr Singh, we simply cannot acknowledge the title for the 'oldest
marathon runner' until we have a copy of an original birth certificate." To them, passport could only be a supporting
evidence, the key piece is birth
certificate. A letter from the Indian government stating
that no birth records were kept in 1911 was also submitted, as was a statement
vouching for Singh's age from a former neighbour in India; but these, too, have failed
to impress Guinness World Records.

Whether
Guinness acknowledges or not, his feat of 10 km in 94 minutes in Hong
Kong event at ripe age of
101 + 9 M is a very great achievement.